


We’re Going from A to B to C to D End

by tearstainangel



Series: Love from Hawthorn Wooden Hearts [2]
Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: A day in InaSure land, M/M, Slaine is living with Inaho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 05:01:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6142291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tearstainangel/pseuds/tearstainangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inaho is curious.<br/>*<br/>*<br/>*<br/>Slaine just wants to read a book in peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We’re Going from A to B to C to D End

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be released for Christmas last year, but it wasn't completed in time, and Orange Flowers was posted instead.  
> I didn't finish edits in time for Valentines day either ^_^; but here it is now. Please enjoy~  
> Thanks to my sister and bunny_tree for beta-ing this.

Inaho was curious.

He observed Slaine stretching to reaching for a book on a high shelf, grunting in frustration when his fingers brushed uselessly against the spine. His body was taut as he strained to grab onto the book, shirt lifting up with him, revealing a patch of soft skin. Inaho’s eye trailed along the exposed flesh when he heard Slaine mutter in irritation, “Why did you even get such a tall shelf when you can’t even reach it,” as his finger slipped off the edge of ‘Jane Eyre’ once again.

Inaho pursed his lips in displeasure. “The advantage of having wall-mounted shelves is the space it saves. It is only natural to build it up to the ceiling to maximize its benefits,” Inaho stated curtly, taking a sip of his evening glass of milk. “Besides, there is a stool placed under the shelf for a reason. Maybe if you had the foresight to use it, you would have had been able to retrieve your book without resorting to making snide remarks about other people’s height.”

Slaine narrowed his eyes at him, “I think I’ll manage just fine.” He gave the books a hard shove, knocking over just enough space to pull the book out and dropped down onto his heels looking overly smug for someone who had only managed to retrieve it after much difficult wrangling. Slaine sat down on the couch and brandished the book at Inaho before plopping his feet onto Inaho’s lap, wiggling his toes, and started on page one of ‘Jane Eyre’.

Inaho glanced down at his tablet, reading through his search results once more before placing it down. Taking one of Slaine’s feet, he began to massage it – pressing into the under of his toes – receiving a pleased sigh. He was well aware of the uncomfortable stretched feeling that aroused from standing on tiptoes. Inaho applied the same treatment to the other foot and proceeded to knead areas where he can feel knots forming.

He had done this often enough that Slaine was content to let him do as he wished. Inaho, however, had an ulterior motive this time. The moment he could confirm that Slaine was completely focused on reading, it would be time to begin testing.

Changing his hold so that one hand was gripping Slaine’s ankle, Inaho continued the motions of massaging to retain the illusion of normalcy. After waiting for a minute or so, he switched his motion to a gentle caress across the sole of Slaine’s foot. Feeling Slaine’s leg twitch, Inaho repeated the action hoping for a similar result and was rewarded. It was time for the next level.

Inaho could see Slaine giving him a confused look out the corner of his eye and returned to massaging normally to keep up the charade. It would be hard to get Slaine in this position again if his objective was exposed after all.

Shifting his grasp, Inaho kept Slaine’s ankle restrained but moved his arm over Slaine’s calves to cradle it closer to his body. Holding the appendage tightly, Inaho bent his thumb inward and ran his nail up the sole. The outcome was out of his expectations.

Slaine had emitted an embarrassing loud high pitched squeal. His leg jerking back but could not escape its subduer.

Slaine froze, and Inaho’s hand too was tense around his ankle. If not for the tick tock of the clock echoing in the room signaling the time trickling by, second by second, it would seem as if time had stopped at that moment. _Oh, if only time really would stop_ , Slaine lamented.

Feeling heat rising to his face, Slaine immediately covered it with his book, turning his head to the side. He tried to pull his foot back but Inaho’s hold on it was tight. A tingly sensation trailed across the bottom of his foot and he kicked out hard on instinct – so hard he thought his leg was going to cramp – successfully breaking out of Inaho’s clutches.

Inaho dodged back to avoid getting kicked in the face. He could feel his hair brush against the wall, sending a shiver down his spine. That was lucky. Another centimeter and he would have been nursing a concussion. Inaho glanced at Slaine, who had his legs tucked between his body and the couch. To protect them from him, Inaho deduced.

No matter. Inaho abandoned his original objective, instead focusing on Slaine face. Or rather, the book covering it. He wanted to see Slaine’s face. He made the most interesting – and adorable – faces when he was embarrassed. However, he was stubbornly guarding his face with the book, still refusing to show Inaho his expression.

Unfortunately for Slaine, his ears were in plain view, peeking out from his fluffy hair. And what an alluring shade of red it was.

Inaho felt his lips perk up into a small smile, the hilarity of the situation catching up to him.

Catching Slaine’s eyes over his shield, he saw his brows furrow followed by his leg jerking then stilling. Inaho wondered what Slaine had intended to do when a book came flying at him. He caught it and levelled his stare on Slaine’s bare face.

Slaine was scowling at him, cheeks red, obviously trying to pretend he wasn’t embarrassed. He was right. It was adorable.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” Slaine gritted out through clenched teeth. Inaho ducked his head to the left in response, avoiding Slaine’s eyes.

"Damn it Inaho! Don’t. Don’t you dare– Stop laughing!"

Slaine’s demands had the opposite effect, and Inaho actually started to shake, albeit silently. A heavy weight tackled him, bowling Inaho over onto the armrest, shifting around until it was straddling him. He looked up to Slaine glowering angrily down at him.

“You’re a real asshole, you know. Now let’s see how _you_ like it.”

Slaine looked down at Inaho from his perch on top of him and gave a smug laugh, "hm-hmph," and started to poke Inaho in the stomach and ribs. Inaho stared blankly at him, not offering any resistance. There was no need to, he wasn’t ticklish in the slightest. Thirty seconds passed and as Inaho had expected, Slaine’s grin quickly fell off when he realized that he wasn’t getting any response from Inaho. He wanted him to react in a similar manner to reduced his own embarrassment. Inaho watched as a disappointed expression – mixed with what seemed to be vengefulness – appeared on Slaine’s face. The alarm bells ringing in his head proved to be accurate when Slaine increased the intensity of his jabs.

"I'm not ticklish Slaine. Just give up alread–  Ugh. That hurts, stop it. You’re digging– Ow! Your fingers into my ribs, that’s not even– Argh. Tickling anymore."

Inaho struggled under Slaine, trying hopelessly to avoid the painful stab of fingers. His attempt to block Slaine’s attacks only resulted in his wrist getting captured and pinned to the backrest with Slaine’s left arm, his body leaning against it to press down on it more securely. With his arms restrained, Inaho could no longer avoid Slaine’s assault and had to suffer through Slaine waggling his fingers with so much force he might as well be scratching him until the blond gave up with an irritated huff.

"Argh! Why aren't you affected! That's so unfair." Slaine pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

Seeing Slaine absorbed in revenge fantasies, Inaho delivered a swift strike to Slaine's middle, receiving a delightful squeak in return. Taking the chance while Slaine's guard is down, Inaho shoved his free hand up Slaine shirt and clamped down on the sensitive skin, wiggling it in a crawling motion. Slaine squawked and twisted his body away from the tickling hand, releasing Inaho’s right hand.

Having regained use of his other hand, Inaho promptly doubled the onslaught on Slaine. He sat up, body following Slaine’s as he moved backwards away from Inaho. Inaho lurched forward with the intention of pushing Slaine off and under him but he miscalculated their position and they slid off the couch and onto the floor with a heavy thump.

Inaho stared down at Slaine. _Well, I did get him under me_ , he mused

Slaine realised the disadvantages of his position and quickly grabbed Inaho’s hands, pushing them up and wrapped his right leg around Inaho’s in an attempt to propel them over. But Inaho straightened his left leg and fell onto him, knocking the wind out of Slaine and foiling his plan. Bodies now in close contact, Inaho jabbed his elbow into Slaine’s midriff causing him to wrench up.

Inaho yanked his hands out of Slaine’s loosened grip and grasped onto them. They wrestled with each other, trying to overpower the other.

Slaine hooked his leg back around Inaho’s and swung them over, coming to a rest on top of Inaho who raised his leg and wiggled his toes over Slaine’s stomach. He waited for the moment when Slaine reared back and used the space to extract his leg from between Slaine’s thighs and push them against his hips, preventing Slaine from descending onto him. Taking advantage of the convenient placement of his feet, he dug his toes back into Slaine’s abdomen.

“Ugh. Hahaha. Stop tickling me! Jerk! Cheater!”

Inaho paused his assault and cocked his head, “There’s nothing wrong with using your opponent’s weaknesses against them. Rather, to not use them would be foolish.”

Slaine gave Inaho a withering look, breathing heavily, “I am well aware of that. I was merely commenting on your absurdness in taking this scuffle so seriously.”

“You should have stated that more clearly then, instead of accusing me of being a cheater. Besides, we never set any parameters as to what constitutes as cheating–”

Slaine’s eye twitched in indignation, “And whose fault is that! You were the one to start this whole mess for no reason in the first place!”

Slaine lunged at Inaho in anger, but he forgot about Inaho’s feet, primed for offense and he once again fell prey to Inaho’s tickle attack. Inaho exploited Slaine’s vulnerability to push him onto his back with his legs.

_Ugh, defeated by feet,_ Slaine thought in mortification. Or more accurately, 'defeated by feet _again.’_ Slaine had certainly fell victim to those nimble feet before, squirming and writhing under their ministrations. But unlike his previous losses, there was no gain to be had in this situation.

Inaho carried out his final operation. Tickling Slaine from his stomach to his armpits, trailing down his thighs and targeting even the soles of his feet. He watched as Slaine eventually gave in to the sensation and shrieked with laughter, eyes tearing up, an enticing blush on his cheeks and an unbidden smile on his face. Inaho’s eye softened, a sweet smile graced his face, grateful to be able to see Slaine in such elation. He slowly stopped his onslaught as he continued to gaze at Slaine, trying to commit that beautiful expression to memory.

Slaine panted and wheezed, out of breath, his chest moving up and down unsteadily as he gasped for air. He caught Inaho’s gaze and redden under its loving stare, the heat having nothing to do with exhaustion and everything to do with the way Inaho was looking at him. As though he had found the most gorgeous of jewels and even if he could see nothing but that jewel for all of eternity, he would be satisfied.

Inaho grabbed Slaine’s hands with his and pinned them down next to Slaine's head. The blond, caught in Inaho’s spell, allowed himself to be held down. Tilting his head to the side, Slaine shyly peered through his lashes at Inaho. Despite being on the receiving end of Inaho’s passionate ruby red focus multiple times, it made his heartbeat speed up every time.

Inaho made himself comfortable, kneeling with one knee between Slaine’s legs and dipped down slowly, his smile morphing into a smirk unbeknown to his captive. Inaho paused in his descent, breath brushing hotly against Slaine’s ear, sending a shiver down his back. In a low, husky voice, Inaho whispered in Slaine’s ear, “ _I win_ ,” before drawing back.

The proclamation shook Slaine out of his enchantment and he shot an unimpressed face at Inaho, his heart still beating fast and his cheeks flushed, miffed at having been played by Inaho.

“I’m going to get back at you. When you least expect it. And I will revel in your misery when it happens,” he stated flatly.

Inaho just leered back at him, mirth shining in his eye. He took in the sight of Slaine's ruffled appearance, and leaned down, lips hovering over Slaine's.

"You can try, _later_."

 

* * *

 

“Why is my tablet on the top shelf?” Inaho questioned while staring at Slaine, who was sitting on their couch reading, with a dubious look. The tablet in question was arranged so that it’s screen faced the front for maximum visibility, but laid close to the wall such that it would be hard to retrieve.

Slaine looked up at him in surprise. “Is it? Hmm… Ah, I must have accidentally left it there while I was cleaning the house. Silly me.” Slaine gave him an innocent smile – _too innocent_ in fact – and went back to reading his book, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back on the back rest, completely at ease.

Inaho narrowed his eyes, mouth tilted down in a slight frown. Something was suspicious. He woke up this morning all alone although Slaine usually woke up after him. Then his tablet was gone from its designated spot on his night stand only to show up at the top of the shelf. And cleaning? Early in the morning? Something wasn’t right.

A thought flashed across his mind. _If that is so…_

Inaho glanced under the shelf, and as he predicted, “Slaine, where is the stool?”

“Hmm?” Slaine gave a distracted hum, still buried in his book. “It’s missing? Maybe it got misplaced somewhere.”

Inaho drilled a dead stare at the side of Slaine head but received no reaction. He heaved a small sigh. If Slaine was going to be childish about the incident from three weeks ago, he certainly wasn’t going to give him any satisfaction. Inaho walked to the kitchen to grab a chair but stopped short at the entry way, eyeing the unexpected scene.

 

-

 

Hearing Inaho march around the house from room to room had glee bubbling in Slaine throat. He bit his lip, determined to keep his poker face as Inaho’s footsteps headed in his direction.

 

Slaine turned to Inaho with an inquiring gaze, “Is something wrong? You look upset.”

 

Inaho gave Slaine a hard, flat look.

  
“How did you managed to hide _all_ the chairs in the house?”

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Why is Slaine reading Jane Eyre? Because it was the first book I thought of, that's why.


End file.
